Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today, the government introduces the 2025-26 fuel security response appropriation bills. These bills are:

These bills are all about ensuring we are prepared and best positioned to deal with the very real challenges we are facing.

The war in the Middle East is causing huge disruptions to global fuel supply chains.

Australians are seeing the consequences of this foreign war here, with high oil prices flowing through to the bowser and localised shortages, especially in regional, rural and remote areas.

The bills I am introducing today are about giving government the flexibility to continue addressing these challenges in a timely way over the coming months.

They will establish a new $2 billion advance to the finance minister provision to enable funding for fuel security response measures that are urgent, unforeseen, and unable to be funded through existing funding.

Bill No. 1 seeks an appropriation authority of $800 million, and bill No. 2 seeks an appropriation authority of $1.2 billion.

These are not commitments to new expenditure.

Instead, they establish a safety net for the next three months until the end of the current financial year, in case specific government departments require urgent funding to deal with fuel security challenges.

This new provision will only be available to the following entities:

Like existing AFM arrangements, funds will only be allocated if the Minister for Finance is satisfied applications meet strict criteria—including that there is an urgent need and that this need was previously unforeseen.

We are living in extremely uncertain times, and, from an economic point of view, it's clear that this war cannot end soon enough.

But until that happens, we have a responsibility to take measured and mature steps to shield our economy and the Australian people.

These bills are an important part of that.

The new steps announced today are in addition to all of the action we are already taking to address the impacts of the war, including:

I commend bill No. 1 to the House.

See this speech in context